Workshops Against the War, sponsored by a coalition of Harvard organizations including Harvard Faculty Against the War, the Harvard-Radcliffe Moratorium Committee, and Harvard-Radcliffe Mobilization, drew 300 to a day-long series of discussion groups yesterday.
The conference, called to educate people about the war and to discuss strategies for ending it, drew speakers whose views on violence covered the spectrum of liberal anti-war opposition.
Michael K. Ferber, Spock trial defendant, stressed the difficulties of maintaining interest in non-violent resistence. "One of the consequences of living in this country is always following the novel. Two years ago the resistence movement was very big, but today the Weathermen are in fashion," Ferber said.
Poet Denise Levertov, argued that violence does not alienate Americans. "Planned acts of sabotage such as smashing big, glossy store windows and destroying draft records help to raise the level of consciousness of the public because of the risks the saboteurs take," she said.
Organized Power
Doris Kearns, assistant professor of Government, said that organized power is the only possible basis of a successful anti-war movement.
"The only thing that can change people's minds is organization," she argued. "Without it, people will just flit from issue to issue as the government seduces them into believing that the problem they are presently concerned with will be solved."
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Marching From the Common